Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1887-11-11

fearful tossing of the canoe. My
mother was already sitting up The
stars which had studded the sky
when | dczsd OF were obscured By
black masses of clouds, gusts of wind
were shriehiGg in dismal way
about us and the waves were large
and high, at rimes rolling into the
canoe. We knew that one Of those
terrible storms which spring up so
suddenly ia the islands was about to
break upon Us
God help u.s." murmured my
father reverently, and he offered up
prayer Tor our deliverance | shall
never forget what followed. The
black clouds seemed 10 open aud
be.ch ont fire and let loose batteries
Of thunder. The shrieking wind had
the velocity CT a gale, and the canoe
was tossed like chip upon the tops
Of angry white waves that cleaned
like the white fangs of a devouring
monster The sail was rent asunder
and the rain began to pour down in
torrents Neither father nor mother
lost their self possession. They COM
menced to pray again and l joined
in II was ell that could be done
We clasped hands aud crouched
down to await the inevitable
Suddenly above the roar of the
thunder we could distinguish a con-
tinous rumbling sound
"Those are the breakers and we
will soon be among them,' whisper
ed father, adding words of comfort
at tie same time. 1t did not look as
though our canoe would ever reach
the breakers, as it was in danger of
upsetting each moment, the waves
becoming wilder all the time Our
condition was truly miserable. o!
| cannot dwell upon it! My dear
mothers pale face rises before me as
she leaned down and kissed ME. but
said not word. The next thing |
remember is deafening crash and a
sharp cry from mother. | was struck
by something aud consciousness left
me. l can recollect opening my eyes
as If from profound sleep. The sun
was smiling down from q blue and
cloudless sky. | raised myself and
saw the ocean at my feet 1t was as
placid as lake. | was lying on the
wet beach not three feet from where
the waves were ripping on the sand
My clothes were dripping wet. The
occurrences of the storm came to me
like an electric shock. My first
thoughts were regarding father md
mother Were they safe orr but
| reached the horrible alternative!
About thirty feet away saw the ca
noe cast high and dry upon the
beach It's side wss stove in where
it had struck the rock. Running up
to it | saw it was empty. Along the
stretch OF beach no other object was
II eyed the expanse Of water and
perceived a dark object bobbihg up
and down in the surf. A closer view
revealed what caused my blood to
almost freeze in my veias That
which was the sport of the waves
were the bodies of my dear parents.
They were clasped together
Overcoming tie feeling of
horror and sickness that came
over me | dashed into the water up
to my waist, and, with almost super
human strength, brought out the bo-
dies from the waves. Dragging
them to q dry spot l fell over the
cold forms in deadly faint. | re-
covered my senses only to faint
again | will not dwell upon what
followed. | sobbed and moansd
where / lay all day aud night, and
prayed that | might die beside my
father aud mother. The following
day | was calmer, and using one of
broad bladed oars of the canoe, which
[ tound under one of the seats of the
vessel, dug q deep hole in the sand.
and laid the bodies of my father and
mother in the grave. | was 30 stun
ued aud overcome with anguish that
the occurrences of the two or three fol-
lowing days are dim in my memory.
| know | found some water-soaked
food in tue locker of the canoe, and
that | waded out to the reefs at low
tide and gathered shell fish. Ia o
grove Of c0coanut trees near the
shore | discovered a spring of fresh
water AS strength returned to me,
| resolved to explore the vicinity
and see if could learn where I was
Being afraid of meeting hostile ma
tives, | acted with great caution,
moving stealthily through the palm
groves.
''At night | laid down in some
sheltered nook and used fern leaves as
a protection against the damp dews.
Four days passed and | learned that
| was on small island, which ap.
peared to be uninhabited except by
a nasty looking species of bat and
small pigs aud rats The pigs were
wild and savage, and | had to evade
them to keep from being attacked.
My only snstenance was cocoanuts
and species of wild berries. The
nuts found on the ground, where
they had fallen during storms. Ac-
cording to my reckoning about three
months of this monotonous existence
passed away. My clothes were
worn into tatters. Every morning /
bathed in the sea aud made o frugal
meal on fruit. The rest of the day
| spent in exercise and reading a
stained copy of the Bible which l
found in the locker Of the canoe, |
did not fail to place fresh greens on
my parents grave The canoe when
turned over made q comfortable abid-
ing place at night, | crawling in
through a hole in the side There
were three storms during my stay
there. OF course / was drenched
| think that if my existence as
CrusOe had lasted much longer |
would either have gone crazy of
died As ii was, the consJl9tion af-
forded one by reading the bible gave
me strength.
Zone 0av | saw q Darty of natives